The invention relates to a ventilating device for a vehicle heating or air conditioning system, comprising a housing having at least one air outlet for mounting an air guide part, and at least one louvered shutter for metering the quantity of air flowing out through the at least one air outlet, said shutter having a circumferential sealing frame sealed off from the housing and a plurality of shutter strips pivotably secured in the shutter frame.
A known ventilating device of this kind integrated into an air conditioner box of an air conditioner [German Patent Document DE 196 39 321 C1] has a middle channel departing from a mixing air chamber and a side channel departing from the middle channel, and both are made integral with the housing of the air conditioner box. In addition to the mixing air chamber, a cold air channel and a warm air channel are provided in the housing, both of which terminate in the mixing air chamber. An air nozzle, permanently installed in the interior of the vehicle, in the instrument panel for example, is mounted at each of the endwise mounted air outlets of the middle channel and side channel. A mixing air flap in the form of a louvered shutter is provided at the outlet of the mixing air chamber and at the inlet of the middle channel, by which shutter the quantity of air-conditioned air flowing from the mixing air chamber into the middle channel and into the side channel is controlled. An embodiment of a design of such a louvered shutter is shown and described in detail in German Patent Document No. DE 44 42 000 A1. By contrast with pivotable air flaps, louvered shutters have the advantage that they require less free space inside the housing for opening and closing.
An air distributor box of a heating or air conditioning system for vehicles is known [German Patent Document No. DE 195 39 849 A1] by which a plurality of air nozzles permanently installed in the interior of the vehicle are supplied with warm air, cold air, or air conditioned air. Each air nozzle is connected to an air channel formed integrally in the air distributor box, said channel being lined internally with an absorbent material. The absorbent material is pulled over a flange formed at the free end of the air channel and the air nozzle together with the end of its nozzle housing is pushed into this portion of absorbent material pulled over the flange so that an air-tight connection is formed between the air channel and the air nozzle. At the end of the air channel facing away from the air nozzle, an air flap is pivotably mounted that can be pivoted by an adjusting lever into one of two end positions in which it alternatively blocks the air channel or exposes it completely.
A goal of the invention is to simplify the design of a ventilating device of the species recited at the outset, thus reducing manufacturing cost.
The goal is achieved according to the invention by providing a ventilating device of the kind referred to above, wherein a louvered shutter with a shutter frame is inserted into the air outlet, preferably flush therewith, and wherein the shutter frame, on its outer end facing away from the housing, has a circumferential internal rib which, together with an external rib running concentrically relative to the housing, forms a circumferential U-shaped profile for inserting a circumferential seal that fits over the end of the guide part.
The ventilating device according to the invention has the advantage that the louvered shutter for controlling the (at least one) air outlet when the housing is mounted endwise is simply inserted into the air outlet and thus simultaneously forms a receptacle with the housing for air-tight mounting of the air guide part, especially an air nozzle. In this way, housing shapes for integrating the louvered shutter that are costly from the manufacturing standpoint plus the simplified assembly significantly reduce the assembly time.
Advantageous embodiments of the ventilating device according to the invention with advantageous designs and improvements on the invention are described herein and in the claims.
According to one advantageous embodiment of the invention, the louvered shutter is simply clipped into the housing and the seal relative to the housing is created by a tongue-and-groove connection formed between the inner face of the shutter frame and a circumferential shoulder formed in the housing against which the louvered shutter fits flush.
Other objects, advantages and novel features of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of the invention when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.